Hailing from the Scandinavian country of Sweden, Katatonia are rather unconventional in comparison to others in the field. Similar in mood to Tool they have more in common in sound to darker more ambient sounds than traditional heavy Rock/ Metal.

Many would think yhe vocals might be growled but that not the case, at least with newer Katatonia, as they are clean and monotone. Prime example is the somber ‘Deliberation’ with its acoustic guitar sections and simple keyboards as with ‘Soil’s Song’. Now my ear is more a tune to darker occult sounds like Marduk, Bathory, and Satyricon so the slow moving depressive nature of Katatonia is not my thing at all. Opening track ‘Leaders’ was off to a good start but then it just lost momentum. Katatonia have better moments when the riffs and beats are not so dragging like ‘Consternation’ and ‘Rusted’ but they are not often enough to make this for an interesting listen, for me that is.

Here’s a quote from the album’s promo bio by singer Jonas Renkse which sums up Katatonia’s art based music best: "A distance necessary to journey through the corridors of human vexation. While embracing this album one must know that it will only help to increase the coldness between us. It’s a devious life and this is a soundtrack to it."